1. Field Of The Invention
The invention relates to a continuous process for the production of L-carnitine by the microbiological or biotechnical method.
2. Prior Art Or Related Art
The production of L-carnitine from .gamma.-butyrobetaine is known. The .gamma.-butyrobetaine is brought into contact with a hydroxylase-enzyme, liberated from spores of Neurospora crassa (U.S. Pat. No. 4,371,618), in the presence of sodium-2-oxoglutarate, a reducing agent, an iron ion source and a hydroxyl group donor solvent. Such process has the disadvantage of needing a multiplicity of co-factors, which must be externally fed in. Thus, stoichiometric quantities of 2-oxoglutarate are decarboxylized oxidatively in the reaction to succinate. Fe.sup.2+ is needed as the O.sub.2 -activator, ascorbate is used in order to keep the iron in the reduced form, and catalase is needed to destroy the harmful H.sub.2 O.sub.2 which develops in the traces.
Lindstedt et al., "The Formation and Degradation of Carnitine in Pseudomonas", (Biochemistry 6, 1262-1270 (1967)), isolated a microorganism of the species Pseudomonas which grows with .gamma.-butyrobetaine as a C- and N-source. The first reaction of the composition path was the hydroxylation of the .gamma.-butyrobetaine to L-carnitine, whereupon the intermediately developing L-carnitine was further completely catabolized into CO.sub.2, H.sub.2 O and NH.sub.3.
If such microorganism was used for the production of L-carnitine, such hydroxylase obtained from bacteria would also have the disadvantageous co-factor-requirements described by Lindstedt et al., "Purification and Properties of .gamma.-Butyrobetaine Hydroxylase from Pseudomonas sp. AK 1", Biochemistry 16, 2181-2188, (1977).